| Marathon | |||
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| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Marathon is Bungie’s long-awaited sci-fi extraction shooter, and its free Server Slam weekend has just begun. Read our first impressions of its Server Slam weekend build to see if it’s worth checking out!
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Everything We Know About Marathon
Marathon Story
Marathon is not a direct continuation of the original Marathon trilogy from the 1990s; however, it carries forward several thematic and conceptual ties to the earlier games. The new entry retains the classic sci-fi elements and the presence of advanced, often rampant AI. Its first-person shooter combat echoes the fast-paced action of the originals, but with significantly improved detail, mechanics, and quality-of-life features compared to its boomer shooter predecessors.
Specific story details remain under wraps, as Bungie has not implemented a full single-player narrative experience at launch. Instead, Marathon will primarily function as a PvPvE extraction shooter. Players can still uncover pieces of Marathon lore through environmental storytelling, collectibles, and Codex entries scattered across the game’s maps. Over time, seasonal updates will expand the story, allowing players to gradually piece together the overarching lore of Tau Ceti IV and uncover the mysteries behind the Marathon universe.
Marathon Gameplay
In Marathon, players assume the role of cybernetic mercenaries known as "Runners." The game is classified as a player-versus-player (PvP) extraction shooter with player-versus-environment (PvE) mechanics. Runners venture into the mysterious environment of Tau Ceti IV to gather valuable artifacts, confront other players, and strive to survive and escape with their loot.
Marathon’s gameplay emphasizes strategic planning, combat proficiency, and survival instincts, particularly when playing with a full squad of three. As with all extraction shooters, preparation is a key element. Players must continually adjust their loadouts before each run and select from a diverse roster of Runner shells to suit their playstyle.
Marathon Release Date and Time
Releasing March 5, 2026
Marathon is releasing on the 5th of March, 2026, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. The game was originally scheduled to be released on September 23, 2025, but was delayed due to mixed feedback during the alpha testing period.
Server Slam Open Preview Weekend Start February 26, 2026
Marathon will be having a Server Slam Open Preview Weekend, starting February 26 at 10 AM PT to March 2 at 10 AM PT. Players from across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam are welcome to test the game's servers for its official release on March 5, 2026.
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| $39.99 | |||||
Marathon Review [Marketing Beta]
Rough Start to a Long Run
Marathon’s journey to release has been anything but an easy run. Almost appropriately, it’s been an arduous marathon of comparison and unmet expectations. ARC Raiders nearly put the final nail in this game’s coffin before it could release, but here we are during its Server Slam weekend, running amok on Tau Ceti, and I gotta say, it’s still got a long way to go.
I’ll consider this weekend as the game’s starting pace for the rest of its run as a title once it’s fully out, and let me tell you, it’s a very rough start. The game certainly has its ups, even in this limited state, but its downs drag it down from being a pace leader to a straggler in its own genre. There’s much to unpack here, or rather, not much at all, so let’s get started.
Picking the Bones of a Fallen Project Clean
We begin on a planet, in a galaxy far, far away. No, this isn’t Star Wars, but it is a sci-fi story that continues the original Marathon IP Bungie started many years ago for Mac OS. This game, in particular, is set on Tau Ceti IV, the planet the eponymous colony ship, Marathon, brought humans to many moons ago.
Where in the Marathon timeline this game takes place isn’t clear, at least not yet, but it is obvious that you’re not here to settle an exoplanetary colony. No, you’re playing vulture and are picking the bones of a failed colonization attempt clean. You are a Runner, a disembodied consciousness deployed by corporations in a Shell, a specialized mechanized humanoid suit with special capabilities.
Your task is to drop in, gather salvage, fulfil your contracts, and exfiltrate safely. You’ve a plethora of different shells to choose from, countless sponsors more than happy to provide you with gear for your missions, and legions of automated robots daring you to take a piece of this planetary pie.
This is among the better parts of Marathon that I’m willing to cede quality to. It’s quite the endeavor to write a sci-fi story, but it’s a much harder task to continue one, even if you did make the originals. This world-building is on par with ARC Raiders’, and I’m very happy to see that there’s more to this game than looting.
On the topic of looting, it’s time we got to the game’s actual loop, though, let me tell you now, it’s nothing special.
The Same Old Extraction Shooter Loop
Marathon plays like almost every other extraction shooter on the market. You go in, get your loot, and get out. That tried-and-true loop is pretty much everything this game has, with its only cybernetic leg up over ARC Raiders being the existence of the Runner Shells.
We’ll get to those later. For now, let’s talk about the core of the game. Don’t worry, it won’t take long. Marathon has you piloting a Shell to drop into the planet, gather salvage, take out enemy forces, and fulfill the terms of your contract. You start with a unique loadout of guns, ammunition, consumables, and modification chips, all of which will be lost if you don’t manage to make it out alive.
Once you’re on the surface, it’s looting time, and loot can come in almost every shape and form you can imagine, with the only limiting factor being how many you can carry and how much you’re willing to risk to get them. You’re bound to encounter other Runners competing for the same loot, as well as UESC robots protecting their company’s assets, so getting a weapon on you quickly is your number one priority if you go down without one for some harebrained reason.
Players have shields to absorb damage over their normal health, both of which have special consumables to top them off that you can carry with you going in, or find while exploring. Each Runner Shell also has unique skills and abilities that define their playstyle, as well as a powerful ultimate ability to turn the tide if things ever go south.
Regardless of your choice of Shell, what loot you got on you, or who you’ve encountered, you’ll eventually want to exfiltrate the site and get paid. To do so, you need to get to an extraction point without dying, which sounds easier than it actually is, even with all these guns and skills you have. So far, so Tarkov.
Now, this is usually where I’d discuss the game’s unique mechanics on top of the core genre loop it’s based on, but no, that’s it. Apart from unique types of equippable loot, a unique setting, and sci-fi designs for everything, there really isn’t anything special about Marathon’s gameplay.
The core has not been shaken up in any significant way. Heck, the Runner Shells, of which there are six in this beta, are basically analogous to Backpacks in ARC Raiders since they veer you toward a playstyle from the get-go. I suppose the inclusion of unique skills and ultimates for each Shell technically gives this game an edge, but it’s a barely noticeable one in the grand similarity of everything else.
And there lies Marathon’s greatest weakness: it’s nothing special. For all its craftsmanship and the hype surrounding its release, the game is pretty much just another extraction shooter with sci-fi stickers pasted on there. At no point during my runs did I feel like anything new was happening. There weren’t unique objectives or ways to interact with the run that no other game has done before.
While usually passable, for a dying and oversaturated genre like extraction shooters, being boring is worse than being bad, and Marathon hits the latter on the head with the core of its game design. I’ll grant that it has some unique things about it, but they’re negligible enough that they do little to make the core gameplay any more fun than what’s already in the market.
Sponsored Level-ups
The first of Marathon’s innovations, however few there are, only kicks in once a run ends. The game has multiple entities acting as sponsors for your endeavors, providing you with free or cheap gear to make sure you always have something to work with once you’re down there.
If you do manage to eke out a win while wearing a sponsor’s bling, you gain experience with that particular sponsor and can get improved perks like stat boosts or just straight care packages of loot.
Now, this isn’t the most unique thing ever because The Finals pretty much has the same idea, just executed better, but it’s a fun way to progress, as each sponsor upgrades you with a playstyle in mind.
The second thing this game actually managed to add to the overused formula is the Shells themselves. Class-based extraction shooters aren’t unique, and jumping around silly style with cybernetics on feels like Warframe more than anything else, but Marathon does something unique with its machine bodies.
First off, they dig deep into their archetypes from moment one, with a Shell like the Destroyer being the most aggressive, and the Assassin being pretty much invisible to everyone at all times. The Shells don’t just have minor bonuses about them; it’s all complete kits that cater to a type of player.
Secondly, the variety of weapons and roles is already great and is likely to improve as time goes on and new content is added. Granted, that’s assuming this game can survive the rocky start it has now.
Maximalist Sci-fi Clutter Made Eyecatching
Adding on to Marathon’s better accomplishments in the Server Slam, the maximalist, sci-fi art that covers the whole game in its uniqueness is actually quite the spectacle. Overstimulation risk and accusations of plagiarized art aside, the game is effective at employing the glitchy, hodgepodge of screens, computer prompts, and calculations to evoke certain emotions while playing.
I won’t pretend that it doesn’t get overwhelming and esoteric at times, but it’s more appealing than either of those for the most part. I can’t say there’s a game out there that looks anything like Marathon.
Cool Idea, Mid Execution
Overall, Marathon’s Server Slam experience isn’t good, nor is it bad if we’re just talking about the game in a vacuum. It didn’t execute anything poorly; it just didn’t pop out of the mold as much as it should have. That’s usually not damning, but when you share the same space as ARC Raiders, you’re going to have to do better than that.
The game looks good, sounds great, and plays well enough. It all amounts to well-dressed cardboard in terms of freshness, though, so if you’re looking for an all-new extraction shooter experience, you’re better off looking elsewhere, at least for the time being. It’s a rough start to a very long run for Marathon. I hope it has the stamina to stay in the race.
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Marathon Product Information
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| Title | MARATHON |
|---|---|
| Release Date | February 27, 2026 (Server Slam Beta) |
| Developer | Bungie |
| Publisher | Bungie |
| Supported Platforms | Steam PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X|S |
| Genre | Action, Shooting |
| Number of Players | 1-3 |
| ESRB Rating | ESRB Teen |
| Official Website | Marathon Official Website |
